Rich Biedrzycki of Dreamland Comics in Schaumburg, Illinois wonders why Harry Potter sells better than comics:

 

I just finished watching the local news and was so disgusted that I was forced to comment.  What disgusted me?  Harry Potter!  Five million copies of his newest book sold over the weekend.  FIVE MILLION COPIES!!!  Why am I disgusted?  Those people should be our customers too!  What does Harry have that Spider-Man, Daredevil, Hulk and numerous other comic characters don't have?  Nothing! 

 

This industry needs to get off its lazy behind and create some excitement to rival Mr. Potter.  And I don't mean Marvel's pathetic attempt to get mainstream publicity with wild takes (i.e. Rawhide Kid) on characters.  Tell me we don't have anyone as creative as J.K. Rowling.  We probably have hundreds who are, so why do Miss Rowling's books sell like that and ours don't?  Most of our comics have better stories and more exciting characters but we are content to sell 100,000 copies and consider that successful.  Spider-Man, X-Men and Hulk are bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars for the movie industry why are they not bringing that money into the comic industry? 

 

I don't know the answer but someone somewhere better start trying to figure it out.  Hulk brought in $62 million for the film industry this weekend but this month's issue of Incredible Hulk brought about $180,000.00 into the comic industry, and that is if every copy printed sold.  Wow, if that doesn't make you mad think about all the money yet to be made on video games, DVD releases, action figure sales and on and on.  We are letting other industries pimp our beloved characters, make hundreds of millions of dollars, and we better stop letting them and find some way to get these people into our stores.  I want thousands of people crowding the street in front of my store waiting for the new issue of 'insert any title here' to go on sale.  Let's hear some suggestions!  Marvel, DC, Image, anyone?